Natalia Flores didn’t set out to start a business.
She grew up in Mérida, in the south of Mexico, studied in Monterrey, and came to Berkeley on a six-month exchange program. Six months became a year. A year became an internship, then a job, and eight years later she still calls San Francisco home.
Then COVID hit. Stuck at home and cooking constantly, she missed the spicy flavors she grew up with, and she couldn’t find them here. So she started making them herself: salsas cooked in the same pan she used for dinner, peppers chopped with her own kitchen knives, jars ordered from Amazon, and labels designed in Canva and printed at home.
She sold 20 to 40 jars a month to friends, just for fun. Then someone she’d never met, a friend of a friend, reached out to buy one.
That message changed how she saw it.
A chance conversation with the founder of a major salsa company pointed her to La Cocina, San Francisco’s nonprofit incubator for food businesses. She applied with six different salsas. By the time she launched, she’d narrowed it down to one: a crunchy chili crisp made from just three ingredients.
Today, Flor de Chile is made by a team of four in a commercial kitchen in the Mission, and her best friend is now her business partner. They can make 400 jars in six hours, all by hand, and the brand is stocked in stores across San Francisco.
Along the way, she’s learned that you never have it all figured out before you begin. You start, and you figure it out as you go.
This conversation goes far beyond food. We talk about:
The moment a hobby starts becoming a real business
Why one order from a stranger meant more than a hundred from friends
How La Cocina helped her formalize the business, and why she launched one product instead of six
How to think about leaving your job, and why her transition was gradual
Running a business while working full time, then part time
What happens when your best friend becomes your business partner
Going from a home kitchen to a commercial kitchen, one problem at a time
Managing inventory, forecasts, and shelf life in a food business
Bootstrapping on $10,000, and why every dollar of revenue gets reinvested
When outside capital becomes necessary to scale
Building a team when you’ve always done everything yourself
Creating a brand rooted in culture without leaning on clichés
Why she isn’t worried about anyone copying her recipe
Why getting on the shelf is the easy part, and getting off it is the hard part
Her advice for anyone whose fear is holding them back
Natalia’s story is a reminder that you don’t need a plan to start.
Sometimes a craving becomes a recipe. A recipe becomes a business.
And a business becomes a way to share home with the rest of the world.
🎧 Listen to the episode
YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
A Line From the Conversation
"Don't wait for it to be perfect... just try it out, and you'll figure out the rest along the way."
Favorite Book
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Natalia’s pick is a fitting one for this conversation. Phil Knight’s memoir of building Nike shows how messy the early years of a company really are: the cash crunches, the near-misses, and the decisions made without all the answers. It’s the same truth running through Natalia’s story. Behind every brand you see on a shelf is a founder who kept going without having it all figured out.
Favorite Quote
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
(00:00) Intro: Natalia’s journey from Mérida to San Francisco
(01:37) Growing up in Mérida, Mexico
(02:37) How a six-month exchange became eight years
(04:07) A COVID hobby begins
(05:26) The order from a stranger that changed everything
(06:58) Selling 20 to 40 jars a month from her kitchen
(09:05) Discovering La Cocina
(10:21) From six salsas to one product
(12:03) Running a business while working full time
(13:11) How to know when to quit your job
(15:28) The support system behind the business
(17:50) When your best friend becomes your business partner
(19:43) Protecting the friendship
(22:08) From home kitchen to commercial kitchen
(25:30) From 200 jars a month to 400 in six hours
(26:57) Why they still make every jar by hand
(27:56) Inventory, forecasting & shelf life
(30:34) Bootstrapping vs. raising capital
(32:25) What it actually costs to start
(33:45) Building a team
(37:05) A brand rooted in culture
(41:07) The story behind the name
(42:59) Is she worried about copycats?
(45:16) The biggest challenge: getting it off the shelf
(48:51) What’s next for Flor de Chile
(51:09) What she’s learned as a leader
(54:12) Advice if fear is holding you back
(55:24) Favorite quote & book
Most of us have an idea we keep coming back to. Few of us act on it, because we’re waiting until we have it all figured out.
Natalia didn’t wait. She started with what she had, solved one problem at a time, and let the business grow as she did.
If you’ve been sitting on an idea, waiting for the right moment, this conversation is for you.
Subscribe to Be Anomalous for honest conversations with founders, creators, and cultural disruptors who are building outside the lines.
New episodes drop every Tuesday.
Be Bold. Be Real. Be Anomalous.
Follow for more Be Anomalous stories, conversations, and behind-the-scenes.
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube | @iamsaimenon